Massachusetts couple accused of spying for Russia

Tuesday

Jun 29, 2010 at 12:01 AM

A Cambridge, Mass., man and woman were among 10 Russian intelligence officers arrested on suspicion of serving as illegal agents of the Russian government in the United States. Eight of the 10 were arrested Sunday and accused of carrying out long-term, deep cover assignments in the United States on behalf of Russia.

Auditi Guha and David Harris

A Cambridge real estate agent and her global consultant husband were arrested Sunday on allegations of being Russian spies.

Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley were arrested at their previous apartment Sunday night at 111 Trowbridge St., according to the Justice Department.

The couple, in their 40s, reportedly have two teenage sons and recently moved to a new house at 35 Trowbridge St., neighbors said. No one answered the door at either apartment Tuesday evening.

Heathfield is a principal at Global Partners Inc., an international consulting and management development firm. He is also the developer of Future Maps, a software system that helps map a picture of anticipated future events.

A message left on Heathfield's work phone was not immediately returned.

Heathfield has worked as a business consultant in information systems across the globe with companies like Alstom, Boston Scientific, General Electric, Praxair and T-Mobile, according to his work profile.

He is highly educated and studied at the London School of Economics, holds an MBA from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees in Paris, a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a BA in International Economics from York University in Toronto.

Heathfield is also a member of several key U.S. and international associations like Oxford Futures Forum, Harvard China Group, Ivy Groups, U.S. Government Relations and Public Affairs, National Emergency Management Resourse Center and the World Future Society.

Tracey Foley is a licensed real estate broker, according to state records. She also goes by the name Ann Foley and has been an agent at Redfin Corp. in Somerville for the past five months and at Weichert Realtors under Channing Real Estate in Cambridge for two prior years.

She claimed she's from Montreal and studied at McGill University, according to her real estate website. She also said she's lived and was educated in Switzerland, Canada and France. Prior to her career in real estate she worked as a human resources officer in Toronto and ran her own travel agency in Cambridge that "specialized in organizing wine enthusiast trips to France."

Foley is also a member of key U.S. and international associations like InterFrench, Expat Web, French American Business Alliance, Singapore Global, Global Mobility Management and Worldwide ERC - US Domestic Relocation.

A Realtor who who worked with Foley but did not want to be identified told the Chronicle on Tuesday that "she used to get to Paris a lot. ... I thought they had a villa there."

Foley did not return a message left on her cell phone Monday evening.

According to the FBI, the married couple adopted Canadian identities and have been living in the Boston area for 11 years. They claim to be naturalized American citizens who were born in Canada. The FBI said that the man known as Healthfield actually posed as Donald Howard Graham Heathfield, a Canadian man who was born in 1962 and died in 2005.

The couple was among 10 Russian intelligence officers arrested on suspicion of serving as illegal agents of the Russian government in the United States.

The two were charged with carrying out long-term, deep cover assignments in the United States on behalf of Russia, according to our news partner, WCVB.

Federal law prohibits individuals from acting as agents of foreign governments within the United States without prior notification to the U.S. attorney general. Nine of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Richard Murphy and Cynthia Murphy were arrested Sunday by FBI agents at their home in Montclair, N.J. Vicky Pelaez and Juan Lazaro were arrested Sunday at their home in Yonkers, N.Y. Anna Chapman was arrested in Manhattan on Sunday.

The charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. All the defendants are charged with this violation.

The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. All the defendants except Chapman and Semenko are charged with this violation.

The arrests are the result of an FBI investigation into an alleged network of agents based in the U.S. Officials intercepted a message Russian intelligence headquarters in Moscow that said, "You were sent to USA for long-term service trip ... to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and sent intels."

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